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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

EQCA Statement on "Sodomite Suppression Act"

Statement from Equality California on the Proposed Anti-LGBT Ballot Initiative

LOS ANGELES
- Equality California released the following statement regarding the
proposed anti-LGBT ballot initiative, the “Sodomite Suppression Act”,
and Attorney General Kamala Harris’ decision to seek judicial
authorization to not issue a title and summary.

“We
commend Attorney General Kamala Harris for asking the court to allow
California to reject this inflammatory and unconstitutional ballot
measure,” said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California.
“As we indicated in our earlier statement, this proposed ballot
initiative is grossly out of step with the attitudes and beliefs of the
people of California. While we do not believe that this offensive
measure will have sufficient support to qualify for the ballot, it
points to the need to review and reform the ballot initiative process.
As evidenced by Propositions 8, 22, and 187, California’s ballot
initiative process has been used in the past to restrict the civil
rights of the LGBT community and the diverse communities that we are a
part of. We look forward to working with Attorney General Harris,
policymakers, and members of the legislature to review the ballot
initiative process and implement reforms to assure that public resources
are not wasted on measures that clearly violate the law or
Californians’ constitutional rights.”

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Equality
California is California's largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender civil rights organization focused on creating a fair and
just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting
equality, acceptance and social justice for all people in our diverse
LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes
advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct
healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy,
education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and
diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials,
communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice
communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org